


breathe in, breathe out, steady on

by parrishes_and_pitches



Series: one-word prompts [1]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Comfort, Fluff, Forehead Touching, It's really soft okay, JUST, M/M, One-Word Prompts, Sweet Kisses, Will is stressed, also when i got this prompt it was all set up for angst, but i said no fuck you, so fluff, stress-induced banter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-17
Updated: 2019-04-17
Packaged: 2020-01-15 06:05:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,800
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18492901
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/parrishes_and_pitches/pseuds/parrishes_and_pitches
Summary: "he thought that most people would have found a cold hand like nico’s to be anything but a comfort. will wasn’t most people."will is particularly stressed in the infirmary after a game of capture the flag, and nico is there to comfort him.





	breathe in, breathe out, steady on

**Author's Note:**

> this is the first installment of my one-word prompt series. the prompt for this fic was comfort, and this is immediately where my mind went because i refuse to do angst unless absolutely necessary. enjoy!

the camp half blood infirmary was messy under the best of circumstances, but it was especially chaotic after a game of capture the flag. will could swear that the games got more and more brutal every time. for this reason, and for the fact that will was currently the only medic at camp equipped to handle the resulting injuries, capture the flag was easily his least favorite camp activity. yes, he supposed it was good practice for the next time he was needed as a combat medic in a real battle, but for now it was simply a hassle when yet another child of ares came into the infirmary with an arrow stuck in their arm.

injuries today ranged from a black eye, cured simply with a bruise salve will always kept on hand, to aforementioned arrow in an ares kid’s arm. the former was so small and inconsequential that will was tempted to snap at the son of aphrodite for taking up space in his infirmary (though he smiled and sent him on his way). the latter was over a squabble so petty that will wanted to tell them off for getting in such an argument with a particularly temperamental sibling of his and expect to get out of it alright (though he smiled and sent them on their way). the range of injuries gave will a considerable amount of work to do, and not nearly the amount of time or space he needed to do it.

in times like these, the infirmary seemed so small. it seemed like will barely had room to breathe, much less remove an arrow from someone’s arm or set a broken wrist. in times like these, it seemed like that was all will could do, run about from patient to patient and do whatever was required of him. it wasn’t quite the same as being a combat medic because there wasn’t a real sense of urgency, seeing as wounds from capture the flag were (usually) not deadly. but will felt the pressure anyway. he felt it in the way that he was the only one who could help the other campers, in his natural inclination to do the best and nothing less. it was a stress he lived with, a stress he never questioned. a stress he believed he could handle, because what other choice did he have?

it was this feeling that fueled him through the next hour or so without so much as sitting down for a minute or taking a sip of water. it was this feeling that kept him a touch out of sync with his surroundings until a cool hand on his shoulder between patients almost made him jump out of skin. he whirled around, registered familiar brown eyes and dark hair, and sighed. “apollo’s appendix, nico, don’t do that to me.”

nico tilted his head, but kept his hand on will’s shoulder, anchoring him in place. “’apollo’s appendix’ is one i haven’t heard before,” he observed.

“that’s what happens when you scare me like that. random curses.”

“why would you swear by your father’s appendix?”

“we are not talking about my weird choice of words right now. how long have you been here?” will asked, turning to head to his next patient heedless of his boyfriend’s hand on his shoulder.

“not long,” nico said as he followed will, “just long enough to see you running around like a madman.”

will gave nico a cautious once-over, too caught up in his work to take pleasure in the faint flush that colored his cheeks. “tell me you’re not injured too. that’s the last thing i need.”

nico glanced down at himself, as though he wasn’t quite sure. will wouldn’t have been surprised if he wasn’t. nico had an annoying tendency of willfully ignoring injuries until they physically hindered him. “no. i’m good.”

“great. now, if you don’t mind, i kind of have a lot on my plate right now.”

“wow. that’s cold, solace.”

“wow, i didn’t think you’d be the clingy type of boyfriend, di angelo,” will shot back.

nico pouted slightly, which was adorable, and something will certainly did not need at the moment. “i’m not clingy.”

“oh? what do you call this, then?”

“i call this coming to check in on you and make sure you don’t kill yourself with your workload. you’re well on your way, from what i can tell.”

“wait, really? is your death sense tingling?”

nico rolled his eyes. “don’t be stupid.”

“you can’t say stuff like that when you’re a son of hades, nico. people will take you seriously.”

nico huffed, looking like he was regretting his choice to pop in. will decided to consider that a small victory. “my point is,” nico said, “you look like you’re overworking yourself.”

will shrugged and turned to his next patient, a daughter of hecate with a large splinter of a shattered wooden shield stuck in her palm. “yeah, well,” he said, still addressing his boyfriend, “someone’s gotta do it.”

will could vaguely see nico in his periphery as he folded his arms across his chest and watched will as he carefully removed the splinter and bandaged the girl’s hand. he could tell that nico was studying him, and he could feel the question coming before it was voiced. “have you taken a break at all in the past hour?” nico asked as will toweled his hands off for what seemed like the millionth time that day.

will snorted a bit. right on the money. “and i thought i was the nagging one in this relationship.”

“you are, but i thought i’d switch it up a little. stop stalling and answer the question, solace.” nico stood solidly in front of will, preventing him from slipping past before he could even try. he looked up at will, his dark eyes insistent and incendiary. such a fire was only seen in nico on two occasions: when he was on the battlefield, and more recently when he looked at will. this was something that will had taken note of when they first started dating and had been rather smug about ever since. he wasn’t feeling too smug now, though. not when the look nico leveled at him now was so accusatory. “will.”

“alright, fine. no, i haven’t.”

“will,” nico said again, voice taking on the same reprimanding manner as his eyes.

“you’re hardly one to talk, nico.”

“this isn’t about me. this is about the fact that you look like you’re about to bust a vein or something.” he reached up and tapped a cool finger on will’s temple. will hadn’t even noticed the headache that was beginning to form until nico touched him.

“that’s highly unlikely,” will mumbled defensively.

“oh my gods, could you stop being impossible for like five seconds?” nico’s palm came to rest on will’s cheek. he leaned into his touch, but he also crossed his arms to let nico know he wasn’t happy about it or the topic of discussion. nico ran a thumb gently beneath will’s eye. “you look exhausted,” he said, gentler now.

the new tone made will want to give in and vent to nico about all his problems, right down to the infinitely infuriating aphrodite kids with their inconsequential black eyes. he wasn’t quite ready to relent yet, though, even if he wanted to. he didn’t think he could. “again, you—”

“if you say i’m one to talk, i _will_ stab you.”

“okay then, never mind.”

nico sighed, his hand still on will’s cheek. it felt almost room temperature now after taking on some of will’s body heat. he thought that most people would have found a cold hand like nico’s to be anything but a comfort. will wasn’t most people. “look,” nico said, “i’m trying, okay? i know i’m not one to talk, but i’m trying.”

“i know,” will said. his voice was a bit hoarser than he thought it would be.

“you, on the other hand… you’re almost trying too much.” nico had to place a finger to will’s lips to keep him from interrupting. will pressed his lips against it automatically. “you work, and you work, and you work. it’s nonstop. you work to the verge of collapse and you act like it’s all you can do.” nico abandoned will’s lips in favor of placing that hand on will’s cheek, cupping his face. his hands were steady, his gaze searching. he seemed to come to a conclusion. “you realize you’re not alone, don’t you?”

the question undid him a little. “but—”

“you’re not,” nico insisted. “i get how you feel. i know what it’s like to carry a burden and think that nobody can help you. i’ve been there more times than i can count. it’s a thing that takes a long time to unlearn.”

“but nobody _can_ help me," will said. his voice was strained, and he felt his body being spurred back into involuntary motion. he shifted his weight uneasily, gaze searching for anything that wasn't nico's face. "i’m the only medic here and...” he trailed off. the thought dissolved as the momentary comfort of nico’s touch and gaze quickly faded away. things were getting small again. too tight, too much, not enough.

it took him a moment or two to realize nico was saying his name. “will. breathe for me.” he pulled on will’s face gently, bringing him down a couple inches so their foreheads could rest against each other. a little bit more contact, a little more of the space will needed. “look at me.” will looked. “breathe.” will breathed. nico leaned forward and pressed a gentle kiss to his lips.

will thought about how nico never liked to be touched, yet he seemed to know that it was exactly what will needed right then. nico preferred that nobody touch him, but he knew will, and he knew that his touch was something that will craved, something he needed to feel steady. and it was something he did without hesitation if it meant lessening will’s burden by just a little. nico claimed to not understand people well, but his understanding of will was perfect and effortless. will didn’t know how he did it.

nico looked at will again, with that gaze so steady and sure. “okay?”

will nodded wordlessly. there was so much he could have said, but he was sure his eyes said just as much as nico’s did.

nico nodded as well, satisfied, and pulled back. his hands trailed down from will’s face, sliding across his shoulders and dropping down his arms to take his hands. “good. now, how can i help?”

will blinked. “help?”

nico squeezed will’s hands, just slightly. “it’s like i said.” he offered a half-smile, which, coming from nico, was like the sun. “you’re not alone.”

 

**Author's Note:**

> thank you so much for reading!!
> 
> if you'd like to submit a one-word prompt, there are three easy ways to do so! 1) by commenting on this fic. 2) by sending me a dm or an @ on twitter (@pynch__me). 3) by sending one to my curiouscat (pynches_and_pitches). if you want to submit a prompt, please be sure to include a ship as well as a prompt!


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